Annuity Review—How to Select Annuities
You won’t find on the Internet a source that compares or reviews different annuity
contracts or annuity companies. There are just too many annuities on the
market to do that. However, you can find various side by side annuity
comparisons of rates and surrender terms, essentially a fixed annuity
review comparing the first year and multi-year rate guarantees.
When it comes to index annuities, there is only one company we know that does
any type of comparisons or index annuity review and that is MCPPremium. The
company helps annuity agents compare index annuities but anyone would be able
to buy their software or analysis service.
As to variable annuities review, given that each variable annuity
may have 60 different sub-accounts, a comparison or review would
get unwieldy very quickly. However, one of the important aspects
of reviewing variable annuities is the cost. If your library has
this software, Morningstar® Annuity Analyzer, you’re in luck as you can
do side by side annuity reviews of many contracts.
As reported by Consumer Reports, “Unfortunately, most variable
annuities are so complex that comparison shopping is all
but impossible. If you want one, look at low-cost options from
companies with a strong lineup of mutual funds, such as Fidelity,
Schwab, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price.” There is a site that compares
variable annuity features and you can subscribe for a modest cost
at annuityiq.com. However, it probably won’t recommend low cost
annuities as the site appears to be run by insurance agents (interested
in selling annuities and getting commissions). There are some
online tools available at no cost that help with annuity reviews:
insure.com, AnnuityNet.com, AnnuityScout.com and Variable Annuities
Online.
Learn more about annuities and how to get an annuity
review. |